Benthic Isopoda of the Aegir Ridge (Norwegian Sea) collected during the IceAGE3 (SO276 MerMet17-06) expedition in summer 2020

Benthic isopods from this data set were collected during the IceAGE 3 expedition (SO276) on board RV Sonne in July 2020 with an epibenthic sledge (EBS). A total of seven EBS samples were taken in two areas of the Aegir ridge (Norwegian basin) at depths between 681 m to 3,702 m. The benthic samples taken are the first from the deep seabed within the Aegir ridge and therefore represent an important data set for assessing the diversity of the deep Nordic seas and their relationship to water mass distribution and depth. Isopoda collected by the EBS contained 1,978 specimens divided into eleven families, 25 genera and at least 42 species. Munnopsidae were by far the most dominant family contributing 59.1% to total isopod specimens, followed by the Munnidae (18.3) and Katianiridae (17.8). The remaining families were present with less than 5% of total Isopoda.